IN HOC SIGNO VINCES

Mosul – The paramilitary troops have killed eight Islamic State militants as an attack against south of Mosul was thwarted.

In a statement on Tuesday, Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) said IS militants “attacked the defense line of the troops. The attack was repelled. Huge losses were inflicted on the enemy.”

“Eight IS members were killed, while a vehicle was burned,” the statement said adding that the militants left the bodies of the killed ones in the battlefields.

PMUs, an alliance of more than 60 mostly Shia militias, are recognized by the government as a national force under the Prime Minister’s command.

In late April, PMUs liberated Hatra region after an offensive was launched to Tuesday to free it from IS fighters and cut off the IS routes between Hawija, Mosul and eastern Syria. In May, another offensives were launched by the troops resulting in the liberation of Qairawan, a main IS bastion that links between Tal Afar town in the east and Baaj and Syrian borders in the west, then Baaj reaching to the borders with Syria.

Iraqi troops, backed by U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary troops, retook eastern Mosul from Islamic State in January, after three months of battles. A new offensive was launched in February to retake the western side.